Dallas Cowboys Blog

Few who have watched the New York Giants in recent years were surprised by the way they defeated the Washington Redskins on Sunday. Eli Manning led yet another fourth-quarter comeback, the 23rd of his career.

To make it happen, he set in motion a big play – a hallmark of the Giants’ offense in this day and age. Manning’s 77-yard touchdown pass to Victor Cruz with 1:13 left in regulation lifted New York to a 27-23 victory and offered yet another reminder to the Cowboys that the Giants are capable of quick, devastating strikes.

“They have playmakers,” Dallas cornerback Brandon Carr said. “They have guys who can stretch the field. They have a quarterback who can make pretty much any throw on the field.”

The evidence supports that. This season, the Giants have produced 27 completions of 20 yards or more – the third-highest total in the NFL. But in a 24-17 loss to the Cowboys in the season opener Sept. 5, they had only two.

The Cowboys were thrilled with those results. After all, they justified the investments Dallas made in its secondary when they signed Carr and drafted fellow cornerback Morris Claiborne in the off-season. But since that sterling performance against their NFC East rival, the Cowboys have surrendered 17 passes of 20 yards or more. And in a 19-14 victory over Carolina on Sunday, they yielded three.

Less than 24 hours after that game, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones went on KRLD-FM (105.3) and said, “We’ve got to cut down on the big plays.”

That’s a message expected to be repeated this week as Dallas readies itself to face the Giants’ blitzkrieg air attack.

“We have to just home in on our responsibilities and our techniques and make sure we stay on top of these receivers and force them to push the ball in front of us and come make the tackles,” Carr said. “…We can defend the deep ball and it’s going to be a challenge for us, but we’re up to the task.”